KUALA LUMPUR – The Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council has voiced concern that the implementation of a nationwide emergency will give Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin unfettered powers.
The council said the suspension of Parliament and state legislative assemblies at a time when the executive and the judiciary can still function normally, would disrupt the functioning of checks-and-balances, inhibited national democracy and denied the voices of the people.
“This emergency means the prime minister has absolute power to do almost anything, arbitrarily”.
The council said this in a statement signed by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, following a meeting today.
The council also said the emergency would affect efforts to revive the economy, as it would hamper investor confidence, and will not help to overcome unemployment and loss of income among the people.
“Therefore, we are of the view that Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s action declaring an emergency at a time when he has lost the support of the majority of MPs, including Machang and Padang Rengas, means that this move is not acceptable at all.”
They also told Muhyiddin: “Do not hide behind Covid-19 and burden the people with a declaration of emergency in order to save yourself.”
The PH leaders rejected the rationale given by Muhyiddin that the emergency is needed to help save the country from Covid-19.
“We are of the opinion that the existing laws, including the movement control order (MCO) announced yesterday, are sufficient to harness all resources and strengths to overcome the outbreak.”
Giving an example, the council said that the provision allowing the government to take over private hospitals to combat Covid-19 is not needed as the hospitals are already willing to help the government.
On the issue of elections, the council said the previous method of declaring emergencies in a specific parliamentary or state constituency, is also sufficient.
Late last year, emergencies were declared in the Batu Sapi and Gerik parliamentary constituencies, and the Bugaya state constituency in Sarawak, following the deaths of their respective elected representatives, thus forestalling by-elections there.
The council also noted that the deadlines for the Sarawak state election and the next general election are still some time away.
“For the Sarawak election, it does not need to be carried out until August 2021 at the latest, whereby the 15th general election only needs to be held in 2023,” the council said.
“Therefore, the excuses brought forward by Tan Sri Muhyiddin in this issue cannot be accepted at all.”
In a televised address to the nation this morning, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had announced the implementation of an emergency until August 1 or when Covid-19 is brought under control, following the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s consent on the matter.
However, Muhyiddin’s move on the emergency has received brickbats from various quarters who believe that he is doing so to avoid relinquishing power
Earlier today, Padang Rengas MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz withdrew his support for Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, making him the second Umno lawmaker to do so, following a similar decision by Machang MP Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub on Saturday.
Previously, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, an Umno veteran, had also abstained from the 2021 Budget vote – which was widely seen as a de facto test of the Muhyiddin-led government’s leadership.
The emergency declaration also comes a day after Muhyiddin had declared the MCO in Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and the Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) from January 13 to 26. – The Vibes, January 12, 2021
